Love Bomb : Expanded Edition - Tubes

Released on 20/02/12. Against a backdrop of political corruption as the
American public were still coming to terms with the Watergate scandal
and the resultant resignation of President Nixon, one of the country’s
first satirical rock bands exploded from the San Francisco music scene
with their 1975 self-titled debut album. The Tubes with their heavily
dramatised stage show presented a toe-curling affront to all
middle-class Americans, shining a light on society’s peccadillo by
mirroring anything from S&M sex acts; criminal violence; explicit
drug references and at times done with full nudity and with a throbbing
Punk Rock N’ Roll soundtrack, they cut through the mainstream media’s
cultivated image of clean-cut white American youth presenting a truth
that was captured superbly with their anthem, ‘White Punks On Dope’
(written also as a back-handed compliment to their rich, San Franciscan
teenage fanbase).

Over the course of the following ten years, The Tubes
enhanced their reputation by delivering critically acclaimed albums such
as ‘Young And Rich’ and the Todd Rundgren produced ‘Remote Control’.
Singles such as ‘Prime Time’ made the UK Top 40 and ‘She’s A Beauty’
from the FM friendly ‘Outside Inside’ album hit the top slot of the US
Mainstream Rock charts. Their stage show, although by now extremely
expensive to produce, continued to assault the senses and challenge
society’s mores.For the 1985 ‘Love Bomb’ album Rundgren returned once
more to oversee production duties. And whilst tracks such as, ‘Piece By
Piece’ and ‘Come As You Are’ mirrored the slick commercial potential of
previous fare, side two of the album flew in the face of what fans had
by now come to expect, and its uninterrupted dance-a-thon-mash-up,
though a decade ahead of its time, was just a dub-step too far and ‘Love
Bomb’ fell short in commercial terms.For this Re-mastered Collector’s
Edition, two new tracks to the CD format have been added with the 7”
Single edit of the superb ‘Piece By Piece’ and a Single B-side
alternative mix of ‘Night People’ edited together with ‘Night People
(Reprise)’.

Press:-

"Todd
Rundgren’s Utopia-heavy production didn’t alleviate the lethargy although there
are flashes of brilliance from guitarists Roger Steen and Michael Cotton,
drummer Prairie Prince and AOR keys king Vince Welnick.”